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Lethbridge Herald, The (Newspaper) - February 6, 1974, Lethbridge, Alberta
iHfc LEIHBHIOUE HEHAkD Wednesday, February 6, 1t74 Academic life has its ups and downs Massachusetts Institute of Technology students spin a giant yo-yo from a motorized nine-foot-long finger atop a 21-storey building on the MIT campus at Cambridge, Mass. The yo-yo, called the world's largest, slid down the 265-foot rope. The "finger" nudged the rope and the yo-yo, made of two bicycle wheels, climbed up the rope about 15 stories. Oil well drilling in U.S. stalled by pipe shortage By MICHAEL C. JENSEN New York Times Service NEW YORK The drilling of hundreds of oil wells in the United States has been delayed because of a shortage of tubular steel, according to the independent producers who do most of the nation's drilling. The government says, however, that unusually large inventories of tubing are being maintained by the major oil companies. As a result, it says, the independent companies cannot obtain what they need. Ironically, the squeeze on drilling activity comes at a time when the major oil companies are citing a Oirlin' Pln-Ups Living Color Portrait only 880 HUB Mm 1 Special of each person singly only 88c, plus 50c film fee. Groups 00 per person, plus one 50c film fee. 'Select from finished pictures in radiant black and white and living color. 'Bonus quality "Guaranteed Satisfaction." 'Limit-one Special per child delivery-courteous service. 'Senior Citizens welcome. Shidto Hours: 10a.m. to 1 2p.m. to Sp.m. Fritter to to p-m. shortage of crude oil as the reason for their cutbacks in the production of gasoline and heating oil. Refineries are now operating at only about 85 per cent of capacity. "We have at least 12 development wells that we're ready to said Earl P. Burke, president of Pel-Tex Inc., a small independent oil producer in Houston, "We have the money, but we don't have the pipe, and the only place I can get it is on the black market for three times the going price." According to Burke, the major oil companies, snapped up all the available tube months ago, when it became apparent that there would be a shortage. So severe has the situation become that the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, with headquarters in Tulsa, said its members had delayed the drilling of wells "because of lack of pipe." The federal energy office, in its own investigation of the situation, concluded that the inventories of pipe of the 22 largest American oil companies, as of last December, bad soared 30 per cent higher than their monthly average had been since early 1972. Further, it said, eight of the companies held 74 per cent of available inventories of tube. "The effect of this maldistribution of available supplies is compounded by the fact that the majority of drilling activity is performed by the .independent the office said. It concluded that there had been "excessive stockpiling and unnecessary foiwaid buying" by the major oil companies. The federal agency refused to identify the major tube buyers by name. Inquiries made last Friday to a number of majors, asking for details of their vui 14bm inventories of tube compared to past levels, went unanswered. Those qnes- Fsbruwy 7, 9 and 9 and County Fair mat FrtMy KM ML t pm 171 tioned included Exxon, Atlantic Richfield Continental Oil. Julian G. Martin, research director of the Texas Independent Piuducaa and Royalty Owners Association, said that the tube shortage bad resulted in a market in high-priced used pipe. The used steel, pulled from old wells, now is selling for 16.50 a foot, he said, wlieieas new steel is priced at only to 12.50 a foot. Beryl Plumptre warns meat processors she's checking prices Sarnia pipeline route encounters opposition By DAVE GROFF TORONTO (CP) Beryl Plumptre, chairman of the federal government's Food Prices Review Board, warned meat processors Tuesday that the board will be taking a close look at their profits for 1973. She told about 300 delegates to the final day of the two-day annual meeting of the Meat Packers Council of Canada that leading meat processors likely will record a rate of return on shareholder equity in excess of 12 per cent. "In such a situation, the board must ask itself whether the increase in reward is a re- turn on an equivalent increase in she said. "Or does it rather represent an unduly or unnecessarily high selling price of meat to the retail However, Mrs. Plumptre said past surveys, have shown that rising costs have been spread "pretty evenly" across the food-processing industry. NO SINGLE VILLAIN "This conclusion was greeted with howls of rage and disappointment by those who felt quite sure that the upward thrust of Canadian food prices was caused by some particular Canadian villain of their own selection." She said food processors ir.ust refrain from the temptation to take advantage of particular situations to reap special "ripoffs." "In my view, at least, such rip-offs are not in their own long-term interests and can most certainly discredit them, as a group, in the eyes of the consuming public." Mrs. Plumptre said Canada needs a comprehensive national food policy to replace the current "uncoordinated and often conflicting actions related to production, domestic supplies, exports and consumer prices." Policies are needed, she said, that will utilize all of the country's lands, make available to farmers sufficient capital and management advice to permit the most efficient methods of production and to ensure farmers with a reasonable return on their investments. Later during a panel dis- cussion, a 20-per-cent increase in food prices was predicted for this year by Jack Levine, vice-president of Steinbergs Ltd., Montreal. House warranty 'irrelevant' WINNIPEG (CP) Proposals for a national bouse warranty program are "irrelevant" because the federal government lacks jur- isdiction in that area, says the chairman of the Manitoba Law Reform Commission. Frank Muldoon said Monday property and civil rights legislation are entirely in the provincial jurisdiction. "The federal government doesn't have a shred of legal jurisdiction." Attorney-General Howard Pawley said he agrees with a federal model for a warranty plan but "not if it is just a. case of window dressing." "I would support a nationwide move but that is subject only if the conditions are of substance." Mr. Muldoon also expressed skepticism over now such a national program would operate. He said a bouse built in Vancouver is not the same as a house built "in the gumbo of toe Red River Valley." "The house built in the gumbo will crack and heave." Nursing home approved EDMONTON